2019
2018 February	Re-imagining Akutagawa with David Peace at the Daiwa Foundation in London
2018
2018 April	'Night Meetings', Radio broadcast, BBC3. 'An Evening with Yukio Mishima' at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.
2018 March	Eyes on Murakami - 'Murakami and the Mishima Incident', talk at Newcastle University
2018 January	'The Extraordinary Untold Story of James Bond and Japan' at the Daiwa Foundation, London 'Heart to Heart: From Hearn's Kokoro to Soseki's Kokoro', Benkyokai, London (in Japanese)
2017
2017 November	Keynote: Soseki and Shakespeare, Keio University (in Japanese)
2017 July	Soseki Natsume - Shakespeare Workshop - University College London 'Star Wars: From Samurai to Jedi' at the Bradford Literature Festival 'Writing Revolution' at the Bradford Literature Festival
2017 April	'The Dark Secret of Natsume Soseki' at Summerville, Manchester
2017 March	'Love and Perverted Desires in Four Centuries of Japanese Literature' at the Daiwa Foundation, London
2016
2016 December 2016 September 2016 September 2016 September 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February	'From Kokoro of Koizumi Yakumo to Kokoro of Natsume Soseki' at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan 'Two Superstars of World Literature: Natusme Soseki and William Shakespeare' at the University of Tokyo 'My Alternative History of Japanese Literature' at the Challenge of Japan symposium at the University of Tokyo 'Shakespeare and Japan' at the Japanese Embassy, London Talk: 'The Life of Lafcadio Hearn' at the Koizumi Yakumo Museum, Yaizu, Japan 'Life of Lafcadio Hearn' at the Shirayuri University, Tokyo Talk: 'Two Giants of World Literature: Natsume Soseki and William Shakespeare' at the Heian Hotel, Kyoto, Japan Talk: 'Natsume Soseki's London: A Literary Odyssey' at the Daiwa Foundation, London
2015
2015 November 2015 September 2015 September 2015 March 2015 March 2015 February 2015 February 2015 January	Talk: 'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?' at the University of Tokyo Talk: 'Heart to Heart: The Intertwined Lives of Masaoka Shiki, Natsume Soseki and Lafcadio Hearn' at the Lafcadio Hearn Centre, University of Durham Talk: 'Who Killed Yukio Mishima? at the Sainsbury Institute, Norwich Talk: 'Glenn Gould and Natsume Soseki' at the Daiwa Foundation, London  Talk: 'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?' at University of Edinburgh Talk: 'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?' at World Museum, Liverpool Talk: 'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?' at University of Sheffield Talk:  'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?' at University of Cambridge
2014
2014 December 2014 October 2014 February	Talk: Who Killed Yukio Mishima? University of Manchester  Daiwa Foundation book launch for Yukio Mishima Biography. With Youtube video. Talk: The Greatest Modern Japanese Novelist - exhibition tour and book club with Damian Flanagan, The Japan Society at the Embassy of Japan in London
Previous
2010 October	Japan Day in Manchester UK
2007 July 2007 June	Talk on Japanese Literature at Manchester Art Gallery, UK Talk on Japanese Literature in Nishinomiya, Japan
2006 June 2006 April	IJET-17 Seminar in Kobe, Japan Donald Keene Translation Prize in New York City, USA
2005 January	The Tower of London book launch in London, United Kingdom

Friday 22 February 2019
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Re-imagining Akutagawa

Drinks reception: 7:00pm – 8:00pm

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Damian Flanagan will be joining host Ian McMillan (above) on his BBC Radio 3 Program The Verb.
The topic is: Night Meetings, other panelists include: the poet Yasuhiro Yotsumoto, Enka singer Akari Mochizuki and comedian Yuriko Kotani. It is part of a series of programs on Japan called 'Night Blossoms'.

Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 10pm, 26/4/2018.

   

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Tokyo
Damian Flanagan

'An Evening with Yukio Mishima'
Wednesday April 11th, 2018, 6:15pm-8.30pm
The event is in English and it is open to the public, contact the club directly to reserve a place.

 

Daiwa Foundation, London



The Extraordinary Untold Story of James Bond in Japan
Damian Flanagan
Tuesday 23rd January 2018

  

 

'Star Wars: From Samurai to Jedi' and 'Writing Revolution'
July 1st and 2nd at the Bradford Literature Festival

'Star Wars' - Bradford Literature Festival, July 1st, 2017, 12.30pm University of Bradfall Great Hall "This event will provide a thrilling insight into how two cultures can come together and inspire a generation. For fans of Star Wars and Japanese culture alike."		'Writing Revolution' - Bradford Literature Festival, July 2nd, 2017, 3.30pm University of Bradfall - Norcroft Auditorium "In this stellar panel, writers Christopher de Bellaigue, Mona Eltahawy and Damian Flanagan discuss how a writer might negotiate their political views within their career and whether their writing can ever and should ever be removed from the world of politics."

'The Dark Secret of Natsume Soseki'
In association with The Japan Society North West

       

 

Dec. 9 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), a novelist widely regarded as being the greatest writer of modern Japan.

By a considerable margin, Soseki is the most analyzed Japanese author in modern literature. Hundreds upon hundreds of books have been written about him and thousands upon thousands of academic papers published.

In 1895, Hearn published a book called “Kokoro.” Nineteen years later, his successor at Tokyo Imperial University, Soseki, published a novel of the same title. It's generally thought that these two books are unrelated, but I believe they are. Indeed, Soseki's novel could be seen as a satirical inversion of Hearn's book.

 
Watch Damian Flanagan's Talks on Youtube.
 
    'Natsume Soseki: A Literary Odyssey'       
 
  'Glen Gould and Natsume Soseki'                               

   Book Launch: Yukio Mishima

'Two Giants of World Literature: Natsume Soseki and William Shakespeare' 



Kyoto Heian Hotel, Japan

'Natsume Soseki's London: A Literary Odyssey' 



Daiwa Foundation, London

'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?'
Damian Flanagan will be speaking at the Sainsbury Institute
Thursday 17th September 2015, 6pm

'The Three Cornered World of Glenn Gould and Natsume Soseki'



Daiwa Foundation, London

The University of Edinburgh

'Who Killed Yukio Mishima?'
World Museum Liverpool
Saturday 28th February, 2pm

SEAS Research Seminar: Thursday 19 February 2015. Damian Flanagan - Who Killed Yukio Mishima? Time and Destiny in the Life and Work of Japan's Master Author and Playwright.

Monday 26 January at 5pm.

University of Manchester, University Place, 4pm

Who Killed Yukio Mishima? 

BOOK LAUNCH



The Daiwa Foundation hosted the book launch for Reaktion book's 'Yukio Mishima' by Damian Flanagan.

Click here for a Youtube video of Damian recorded at the Daiwa Foundation.

Natsume Sōseki

Plan

10.00            Option 1. Arrive very early and go and see the Kylie Minogue exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery. Alternatively go to see the paintings the Hireling Shepherd and the Lady of Shallot.

Which is the Lady of Shallot?

12:00            Option 2. Arrive for lunch and go to 'Mai Bai' Sushi Bar (next to the Art Gallery).

2 pm               Official start. Gather in the Foyer of the Manchester Art Gallery.

2:30 pm     Damian Flanagan will give a talk on the works of Natsume Soseki.

4 pm             End of talk and another chance to see the Lady of Shallot.

This year Kodansha International will be publishing a groundbreaking book in Japanese by British author Damian Flanagan called Natsume Soseki: Superstar of World Literature.

Damian has already produced five books on Japanese literature, including Nihonjin ga Shiranai Natsume Soseki (The Natsume Soseki the Japanese Don't Know), followed by his award-winning collection of translations from Soseki's early years spent in Britain 'The Tower of London: Tales of Victorian London'.

Damian's talk will encompass:

- Soseki's place amongst Modern Japanese and World Literature

- Why Kokoro is Japan's most fiercely debated and popular novel

- Soseki's interest in British art and the Holman Hunt connection

This is a unique opportunity to hear about some of the defining works of modern Japan and to explore the extraordinary international influence of paintings held right here in the North-West.

If you would like to attend this event please contact the
JSNW events co-ordinator at: events@jsnw.org.uk or phone on 01925 728448.

Damian Flanagan talked about Natsume Soseki: Superstar of World Literature

Damian Flanagan, literary authority and prize-winning translator, gave a talk about the books of Natsume Soseki, which he considers some of the greatest works in world literature.

Damian has himself produced four books on Soseki, starting with Nihonjin ga Shiranai Natsume Soseki (The Natsume Soseki the Japanese Don’t Know) in 2003, followed by his award-winning collection of translations from Soseki’s early years spent in Britain entitled The Tower of London: Tales of Victorian London in 2005. He has also written definitive critical introductions to such classics as Kokoro and The Gate.

This talk coincided with the publication of a further groundbreaking book in Japanese called Natsume Soseki: Superstar of World Literature. Part memoir, part essay, it was an amusing and passionately written account of Damian’s fascination with the works of Japan’s greatest modern author.

Damian wrestled with ingrained perceptions of Soseki in Japan while simultaneously trying to reintroduce his works to the West where appreciation of the author is so slight. His talk focused on:

• Why Kokoro is one of the most fiercely debated novels in world literature, generating over 500 academic papers (and counting!)
• The depth and complexity in Soseki’s frequently overlooked classic The Gate
• Why Botchan is one of the great world comedies

This was to be an unmissable event for anyone with an interest in some of the defining works of modern Japan.

Sponsored by the Society of Writers, Editors and Translators (SWET) and co-sponsored by Kobe College Research Institute

Date: June 16 (Sat.) 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Location: Nishinomiya-shi Daigaku Kōryū Centre, 6F Lecture Room 1, ACTA East Tower, adjacent to Hankyu Nishinomiya Kitaguchi Stn

Fee: 500 yen for SWET members, 1,000 yen for non-members (No charge for Kobe College students and staff)

Reservations: SWET Kansai.

Elementary, My Dear Watson: The Translator at Loose in the World of Victorian London

Literary translation from Japanese to English usually involves introducing the mysterious, exotic world of Japan to the Western reader. However Japanese does not, of course, have to describe Japan at all. In this session he discussed the challenges and problems of translating Natsume Soseki's descriptions of Victorian Britain while considering how the Japanese language itself has been transformed since 1900 and what pitfalls this might have for the unwary translator. Some of the most basic aspects of Japanese have changed in the last century and sometimes bamboozle even the most sophisticated Japanese reader.

While taking a light-hearted look at some of his own translation agonies, and with numerous illustrative examples from his translation 'The Tower of London; Tales of Victorian London', Damian also explained how a key part of the transformation of Soseki's stories into English lay in understanding many peculiarities of the world described. Translation becomes a journey not only into contemporary Japanese literary styles, but into the social mores and economic conditions at the time when the British Empire ruled supreme. In the book he also included a translation of a pastiche Sherlock Holmes story (The Yellow Lodger) by the enormously popular writer Yamada Futaro. But how does one go about rendering a story like this in English and making it enjoyable and fun for readers familiar with the original Holmes stories? My dear Watson, all was revealed...

Damian Flanagan was awarded the 2005 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Translation Award from Columbia University's Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture.

The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University annually awards $5,000 in Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prizes for the Translation of Japanese Literature. A prize is given for the best translation of a modern work or a classical work, or the prize is divided between equally distinguished translations.

To qualify, works must be book-length translations of Japanese literary works: novels, collections of short stories, literary essays, memoirs, drama, or poetry. Submissions are judged on the literary merit of the translation and the accuracy with which it reflects the spirit of the Japanese original. 

The prizes for 2005 were shared between Mr. Damian Flanagan for his translation of The Tower of London by Natsume Soseki and to Mr. Yosei Sugawara for his translation of The Gift of Numbers by Ogawa Yoko.

...

Click here for Damian Flanagan's speech at the book's launch.